Strategies for Successful Resolutions

THE REVIEWER

For some, our strategy ends when we identify our goal. We have reviewed the past year, assessed the shortcomings and successes, and know what we want to see happen in the coming year. Then, we carefully take our goal and set it on the shelf where we can see it. We tell people about it and smile when we think about how great things will be when we accomplish it. We have manifested this great idea based on what wasn’t accomplished last year and resolve to “do it better this year.” But all too soon it gets lost in the clutter of other ideas and tasks that are “shelved” later in the year.

The Reviewer is a great analyzer. She knows her strengths and weaknesses, and she knows (or at least has an idea of) what needs to change in order to grow a more successful business. She may set goals like, “exercise more,” “establish a better work/life balance,” “create structure and better habits in my daily routines,” “add more weekly personal enrichment.” This all sounds great, right? Of course! But, I believe there are two critical problems with this approach to goal setting. First, the how??!  Second, the why??!

The Reviewer tends to create goals based on the consequences of what didn’t work, or wasn’t accomplished last year. The main problem with this first level of goal-setting is that The Reviewer states new goals as a generalization. There is no structure – no “how” – to set one’s self up for success in the New Year. These goals are also founded on “negative motivators,” meaning we overlooked the good things that happened and simply focused on the shortcomings. What if we could do the “good things” even better and be even more successful this year than fixing a couple mistakes or failures from last year?

A goal without a plan is just a thought, fleeting as quickly as it came. So, take your goals to the next step. Become The Planner. Shift the perspective of your goal’s “why” by literally flipping it on it’s head and give yourself a structure by which you will set yourself up for success to accomplish them this year, instead of letting it sit on the shelf. Onward and upward!

THE PLANNER

The Planner takes their ideas off the shelf and interacts with them daily. We take the insights of The Reviewer and mold them into a positive goal, asking, “What do I want to accomplish and succeed at this year? How do I want to see my business grow?” We may write down, “increase revenue to buy new equipment and a new home,” “reach out to local moms to maximize family and newborn portfolio development,” “stand while editing to get in some extra exercise time.” Whatever the goals may be the focus is about a critical outcome, not just identifying a general area to improve. We have included our “why” and “how” in the goal statement, so we have a vision. Now it’s time to flesh it out.

The Planner is intentional. There is a “positive motivator” for each goal, and that reason will serve as the primary motivator to succeed. These goal-setters also take time to figure out ways that they will tangibly accomplish their new goals. Since The Planner already stated their goal in a concrete way, the rest is simple. We know that any time we find The Planner editing images, s/he will be standing at their desk, right? (Maybe they even buy one of those “collapsible work desks” – I’m not going to lie, I definitely would love one of those). We also know that whenever a holiday is around the corner or a mom is pregnant, we can expect that The Planner will be calling or emailing them about scheduling a family or newborn session. The actionable steps to reach the goal correlate to the “how” and “why” of the statement.

The “increasing revenue” goal is still a bit general, but The Planner has already identified the positive reasons why this goal is important and then takes it to the next step by writing down actionable strategies like, “hone client management process to book at least two weddings per month,” or “use daily engaging social media posts to target ideal clients with a “Call to Action.” They can even revise their goal to look more like The Doer strategy stating, “hone client management process to close sale on first meeting, and book at least two weddings per month to increase revenue, so I can upgrade equipment and buy a new home.” Yea, get specific.

THE DOER

Then there are The Doers. These people don’t mess around with goal-setting and strategy-building. The Doers have already gone through The Reviewer and The Planner stages by the start of the last year’s fourth quarter, and now it’s go-time. The Doer spent all of December outlining personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, success and failures, goals and aspirations. They have taken time to think about why these changes are important and how these changes will be implemented. They get down to the nitty-gritty outlining and get very clear on where things stand in their business. They have gone through finances, current and projections, expectations for next year and how to actualize it. Nothing is left in the grey because they know that in order to run a profitable boutique business the entrepreneur must be aware of all the details and set themselves up for success.

Sound a little daunting? (I’m with you) Or maybe this is totally you? (I’m doing a happy dance for you all the way in NJ) I would say more often than not, I often found myself stuck somewhere between The Reviewer and The Planner. I knew the things I wanted to do better at and things I wanted to accomplish in the coming year, but I fell short of truly investing everything I had to plan it into reality. I want your goals to become part of the fabric of who you are as a person this year – that is how important they are, and how important it is to reach them.

So, Now What?

We begin.

Whether you have identified what goal-setting stage you are at, or not, we are all trying to become The Doer. This is now one of our newest New Year goals, and we are in it together.

Start with the “High & Low Exercise.” Right now, get your favorite journal, planner or a piece of paper. Yes, literally, right this second, go get it – and don’t forget your pen. Now, take a moment to write down two (JUST TWO!) things that were great successes this year. Then write two (YES, TWO) things that just didn’t cut it. Awesome.

Excellent. Now you have started. You took the first step to success, and it wasn’t that hard, right?! Take a deep breath. Smile. You can do a little happy dance if you want, or get yourself a treat because you are on your way. Starting is the hardest part. Now, throughout the day, while your mind subconsciously thinks on this further, keep writing down new ideas as they come to you and flesh out this list – both categories.

Over the next few days I will be sharing an actionable plan for you to identify, outline, plan and succeed in reaching your goals. This outline shows our comprehensive process to journeying towards our goals. There is no easy way of doing it; you have to be ready to put the time and effort into it, but I can tell you, like you have probably already experienced, the more you put in, the more you will get out. And when it comes to your business, that’s a pretty darn good trade off, don’t you think?

See you on the other side.